When I'm in a slump, I comfort myself by saying if I believe in dinosaurs, then somewhere, they must be believing in me. And if they believe in me, then I can believe in me. Then I bust out.
~Mookie Wilson, World Series champion

The night away

Posted Monday, February 21, 2011, at 8:21 AM

We had a big milestone in the Jernagan house this weekend -- the baby stayed overnight without us. For many parents, the worry would be about how the baby would do, but we had little doubt he would be fine. The worry was more about us.

And, as predicted, the baby had a wonderful time of it. Nicole's mom and sister took him to see Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Lemler. He loved it, and especially took to his great-grandpa.

He also finally got the chance to connect with his second cousin Caleb, who, up to now, had been a bit leery of the new baby stealing all the thunder. But with Miles now big enough to actually play and be fun, Caleb has a much higher opinion.

I have to agree, Caleb, they are more fun at this age.

As for back here in Greencastle, there were some slightly more tense moments. Between covering Saturday's boys' swimming sectional and then going out on Saturday night, we kept ourselves pretty busy.

But there were those moments when it just didn't seem right -- going to bed without the baby monitor going, sleeping late on Sunday because nobody woke you up.

There were also the slight feelings of guilt because we actually didn't feel awful the entire time he was gone. It was ... refreshing.

The payoff of it all was when we saw him again yesterday afternoon. He could see us for several seconds before Cole actually got the chance to hold him. His eyes brightened, and he flashed that toothless smile. As the wait continued, the eyes and smile got bigger and bigger, until he was finally in his mama's arms.